Washington DC advice About This Page:

[Carousel96]

I go to DC every year for a conference, and have never felt terribly unsafe. DC is a city -- it has good neighborhoods and bad. I carry a purse becaue of my meetings (normally I use a fanny pack on trips) and wouldn't worry at all about normal amounts of jewelry.
There's so much to see in DC that a weekend won't do it justice. So what do you like? Presidential sites? Do the memorials, the Woodrow Wilson house (only President from DC as I recall). Art? Then the National Gallery, Portrait Gallery, Corcoran and Hirshorn. Quilts and furniture? The DAR museum. Small kids with you? Definately do the zoo, and maybe the Doll & Toy museum.
Mt. Vernon is nice, but if time is at a premium, I'd leave it for another trip (and do Williamsburg, too)
That said -- I second the recommendation about the Archives, but the lines do get long. I was there this year (my token one day of sightseeing) and was amazed at how the guards encouraged us to get close to the glass and really look at the Declaration and Constitution.
Make sure whatever map you take has the Metro stops shown on it. Not all do, and a map without that info is practically useless! I agree that the Tourmobile (or similar programs) are a good way to see a lot and get your bearings. I prefer Tourmobile because it's run by the park service.
I believe the History museum is closed temporarily. If you do the American Indian museum, make the food court part of the experience.
Engraving and Printing is fun, but it's another place where you have to get tickets early in the day. If you want to see the Holocaust museum, it might be worth the ticketmaster fee to order your tix ahead of time.
I really like the FDR memorial and could skip WWII, but that's a personal preference. I think the Korean War Mem is really neat -- I love how the mountains in the background are really faces.
The tower at the Old Post Office has great views of the city.
We like to eat at the Old Ebbitt Grill.
The aquarium in the Commerce building is lousy -- despite being called the "national aquarium." Skip it and plan to stop at teh one in Baltimore, which is fabulous.

[lorilovestigger]

Anyone know where there is a Disney Store in DC???

[lorilovestigger]

Never mind-I answered my own question. I forgot I could look it up online.

I think I found a place to stay. I found a Holiday Inn in Arlington. Just across the water and close to the Metro station.

[Autumnl78]

We were in the navy yard a month or so back to go to the museum on base. Its actually a nice area, seems they are re-building it with multiple new companies etc. The food areas do see to close on the weekend as no one is working. But it was nice and quiet which is rare for dc.
As an avid dc-er (we only live 2 1/2 hours away) heres my suggestions
1_ the navy museum at the navy yard, they also have a boat you can tour. its was pretty cool. not an all day event either
2_ the smithsonian grouping. also remember the postal museum they have over near grand central station, dorky as it sounds it was really cool. also on weekends there is usually some huge event on the mall.
3_ the walls, and memorials at the end of the smithsonian mall (you know washington, lincoln, vietnam) theyre HAVE to do's.
4_ my personal tear grabber, take the red line to judiciary square. you will come out of the subway INTO the police memorial. a block or so away they have a museum and gift shop, and the memorial itself (law enforcement: National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund - police, cops, fallen heroes) is just amazing, and sad. theres also a neat museum of architecture behind the memorial. found that when we were at the annual memorial in may and needed to use the little girls room.
5_ the spy museum. cool as all get out. also, their is a crypto museum up near andrews af base over the bridge.
6_ their aquarium bites. if its during the week go to grand central and take the marc to baltimore (its the commuter train that runs from dc to bmore during the week) and hit up the baltimore aquarium. soooo sooo soooo cool. and they have a dolphin show.
7_ the zoo. the baby panda should be heading back to china soon if it hasnt already as part of the chinese panada deal is that the babies go to china once they are 2 to go into their breeding programs.
8_ near the mci center (metro pops up in there too) there is a killer mexican place right as you come out, i dont remember the name but they make your quach in lava bowls at your table. its soooo yummy. also theres a great irish place there thats name escapes me too but the food is great as well.
9_ if you feel like driving to college park md, or woodbridge va IKEA!!!!!!!!! sorry we're ikea fiends in our house and we love those stores lol. also woodbridge has an outlet mall the size of a small city next to ikea.
10_ disney store is in a HUGE mall in dc. (all malls in dc are huge though and the buggers are everywhere in nova) the one ive been to is in tysons in mclean (theres actually 2 tysons malls the galleria and center right across from each other), they also use to have a seasame street store in the days when those exsisted and last i remember had a warner brothers as well. the mac store is in crystal city (it has its own metro stop)
11_ ive yet to go to it but there is a frank lloyd wright house up in the area. i keep saying im gonna go check it out as i LOVED falling water in art history in high school but we never manage to go.

as for safety i roam around dc alone when the hubby is in meetings. ive never felt unsafe. the metro is clean and easy to use, no food or drinks on it though and they seriously enforce that. the memorials etc are marked well with street signs if your just walking around.
have fun!
also, hotel wise as the metro runs as far south as springfield va you can look into hotels in that area and just park at the metro station in springfield and save some on the dc hotel rates.

[bradk]

here's what i offered on another forum

did a week there in May (I think) of 2004.

Basically I just went by Frommers and Fodors. Found stuff I wanted to do there and pulled it off amazingly well. One of the days I even spent in Baltimore (went via Amtrak) and went to the National Aquarium.

Here's my basic rundown (going by my photos - which I never finished publishing I might add). I'll provide links to the ones I did publish, but I apologize since it was actually my first time really with a camera, which pales in comparison to my current one:

Day 1: Went to the National Zoo. I actually became a member of FONZ so I could enroll in an overnight program they were holding. It included a couple of hours behind the scenes in one of the areas (I did great cats), a night time tour of the zoo and camping overnight with dinner/breakfast. Not that I suggest doing all that, but the zoo should be a must see considering it's only one of four zoos in north america with giant pandas and they just had a baby who is on display.

National Zoo - 6/12/04 (DC Trip Day 1) pictures from national parks photos on webshots

Day 2: Took metro to VA to visit Freedom Park which is run by the Newseum (who has relocated to inside DC but the Park might still exist in VA). Basically it's a tribute to the history of civil liberties in the US as well as a memorial to journalists who have died in the line of duty

Freedom Park - 6/13/04 (DC Trip Day 2 - Virginia) pictures from national parks photos on webshots

Then took Amtrak to Baltimore where I visited Port Discovery (children's museum) and rode the HiFlyer (which some months later had a minor incident):

Port Discovery HiFlyer - 6/13/04 (DC Trip Day 2 - Baltimore) pictures from national parks photos on webshots

and the National Aquarium

National Aquarium in Baltimore - 6/13/04 (DC Trip Day 2 - Baltimore) pictures from national parks photos on webshots

Day 3: I went to the White House Visitor's Center. As far as touring the White House, the rules may have changed in the past couple of years, but they limit tours to groups of 10 or more. Now I did get the impression from my senator's office (more later) that they probably compile lists of people to tour the White House, but the tours book way in advance. I think you need to give at least 3 months notice.

White House & White House Visitors Center - 6/14/04 (DC Trip Day 3) pictures from national parks photos on webshots

Now, in the basement of the commerce building is actually the district's 'best kept secret' and I believe it's oldest aquarium. Most people don't know about it, even those who actually live in the area, and I must warn you, it's not going to knock anyone over with a feather. Unless you're heavy into aquariums, it's a can-miss.

National Aquarium -- 6/14/04 (DC Trip Day 3) pictures from national parks photos on webshots

Day 4: Visited the Washington Monument, the World War II Monument, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and a couple of Smithsonian musems - American History and Natural History (I think - I believe this is also where the Hope diamond is amongst other amazing gems and jewelry).

This is where it gets tricky. Washington Monument and Bureau of Engraving and Printing are both free but are ticket-based to help control crowds. You have to be there first thing in the morning when the booths open to even attempt to get tickets.

But.

I bought my Washington Monument tickets online. Not free per se, but very inexpensive. You can get them in advance through About Us - Recreation.gov. This guarantees you the ticket and saves you from having to try to get there early and get on line (I can't even tell you how many people I saw showing up to get tickets at the booth - which are only available for that day - and turned away).

You do have to show up at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for the tickets there though.

Also about the Washington Monument. If you're interested, call them in advance and ask about walk down tours. Everyone takes an elevator up the monument to the top, but occasionally they offer walkdown tours where you can actually walk down inside the monument. The monument contains gift bricks from each state. When I was there, they had cut down on staffing and reduced the tours due to 9/11, so sadly I missed out, but it was something I was looking forward to when I was there.

World War II Memorial - 6/15/04 (DC Trip Day 4) pictures from national parks photos on webshots
Washington Monument - 6/15/04 (DC Trip Day 4) pictures from national parks photos on webshots
Bureau of Engraving and Printing - 6/15/04 (DC Trip Day 4) pictures from national parks photos on webshots
National Museum of American History - 6/15/04 (DC Trip Day 4) pictures from national parks photos on webshots

also on that day (isn't that enough?) I went to the Old Post Office Pavilion which holds one of the district's legitimate best kept secrets. This building used to be the post office until the mail got too large for it to handle. It's now gutted out and is more of a shopping mall. That aside, the national park service operates an observation area that gives you one of the best views of the area. Some people advocate skipping the Washington Monument (for the crowds and headache it may cause) and just go here instead. I have to tell you that the view here is nice and shouldn't be missed, but it doesn't rival the Monument where if you look one direction, you see the capitol building, another the white house, another the lincoln memorial, etc. Just make sure to get your monument tickets in advance!

Day 5: I took the DC Ducks Tour offered by historictours.com. Some cities have these. They're basically amphibious vehicles that were used in WWII. You start out going through the streets of DC and see and learn a lot of things before heading off into the Potomac.

DC Ducks Tour - 6/16/04 (DC Trip Day 5) pictures from national parks photos on webshots

I also took the monuments by moonlight tour by them which I highly recommend, especially if you don't have your own transportation. They drive you to all the major monuments in the area. It'll start out in the daylight (especially in August), but soon enough, it'll start getting darker and you'll see some of the better monuments all lit up.

Day 7: The Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden

Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden - 6/18/04 (DC Trip Day 7) pictures from national parks photos on webshots

OK, so day 6 is missing. and a lot of day 7. what the heck did I do?

I did visit the US Capitol and I did take a 'special' tour arranged through my Senator's office (Hillary Clinton). The highlight of this tour is that you meet at the Senator's office and then take the tunnel (a little train/subway) that all members of congress take to get from their office buildings to the capitol itself. Learned a lot of neat stuff about the building as well. We didn't go directly into the gallery but were offered tickets for a later viewing.

I also visited the National Holocaust Museum, the International Spy Museum, some science museum (not worth it). Wanted to go to the DEA museum but they're in VA and have limited days/hours which didn't work out for me. The FBI building at that point was closed to tours - not sure if that's still the case. Tried to go to the International Monetary Fund building (WHY!?!?!) but they were closed that day. Visited the National Archives which has the US Constitution & Bill of Rights on display amongst many other documents.

Also visited the Air and Space Museum, the Postal Museum (very small but kinda fun - can send free postcards too).

And on my last night I hunted down the 'elusive' Albert Einstein statue.

I'm sure I did more but without the photos, I can't prove it. A lot of places are really close together (except for the zoo) so if you're okay with walking and a little planning, you can really get things done there. It has an awful lot to offer.

ETA: Oh, how could I forget? I did go to Arlington as well as visited Robert E Lee's home there (interesting story to all that). You can pick up a listing of a lot of famous people and where exactly they're buried, but due to time constraints, I stuck to some basics. JFK and RFK's graves, the tomb of the unknown soldier (and watched the changing of the guard), Robert E Lee's home, saw the grave markers dedicated to the crew of the spaceshuttle challenger, etc.

Also, yes, the Holocaust Museum is also quite impressive and a solemn place. What's interesting to note about that (since I didn't know this until days after when I took a tour) is that there is a sculpture outside the museum which might not be recognizable at first, but it turns out it's actually a dismantled swastika). I wasn't impressed by the lines of anti-choice people outside the museum preaching about their own 'holocaust' however. one thing you have to realize is DC can be VERY political. That woman who was camping out in the lawn across from the white house in Fahrenheit 911, I saw her when I was there.

I think you'll be fine with luggage on the metro too. One thing you should note is that you'll need to buy metro fare cards (there are machines everywhere inside the stations) but you will need your card to EXIT the system as well. This is because of the tiered system they have (you can go from inside DC all the way out to VA and maybe beyond).

[ariel14]

The Holiday Inn in Arlington is very nice and super close to everything. Definitely check out the Spy museum, Native American museum and the Holocaust museum. Also the monuments are incredible, esp the FDR!
We just moved from DC and I miss it!!

[lorilovestigger]

As of right now, we're staying at the Hyatt Arlington. Funny thing is that I read really good reviews for it on one site and really bad on another. I have a friend in DC that is going to go check it out this weekend for me.

[lorilovestigger]

For those who have gone to the Spy Museum--did you buy your tickets ahead of time? Which day is better Sat. or Sun.?

Thanks

[ariel14]

I would definitely buy your tickets ahead of time. You can order them through ticketmaster or you can call the museum. I am not sure which day is better, but I can tell you to go first thing in the morning--as soon as they open.

[JoanW]

And if it's a holiday weekend, it will be packed. I'd go early on Sunday morning. You can order the tickets through Ticketmaster and pick them up at the Spy Musuem when you get there. Go early.

[NanaTink]

Definitely go early to the Spy Museum.
If you want lunch while you are there, and like wood-fired pizzas, I suggest going across the street to Ella's. Great pizza, but don't expect a pizza like Pizza Hut!

I work in DC, and I get off the metro at the Archives (I work at DOJ) at 6 AM in the morning, every morning and have for 10 years. I have walked from L'Enfant Plaza across the mall in the dark more times than I care to count and never had a problem. I have been all over DC and I wear jewelry. It is no worse, no better than any other large metropolitan area. You have your bad areas and your good. It's pretty safe in the tourist areas. You have tons of suggestions as to what to see. There is so much to do, you won't be able to do it all. You will have to make hard choices. And, yes, the American History Museum is closed right now for renovation.

And might I say....metro metro metro? Driving is frustrating, parking impossible, and it's not worth the hassle. Buy an all-day ticket for the metro and plan your day around the metro stops. If you park at the metro, be aware you have to buy a metro Smartpass for parking. The card itself costs $5 then you have to put the money on it for parking. It's the stupidest move metro ever made.

I live in Woodbridge--the home of the aforementioned IKEA and large mall (Potomac Mills)---there is a Disney Store in Potomac Mills, but it's not an exceptionally good one. The one in Va Beach at Lynnhaven Mall is better, IMHO Plus you have to drive down the dreaded I-95 corredor to get to the IKEA and Potomac Mills. It deserves that title---I drive it twice a day and the weekends are worse!

The baby panda, Tai Shan, is still at the zoo. His stay has been extended. He will be here another year.

Have a wonderful visit, there is so much to see and do, I'm sure you will have a lovely visit to our area!

[IdahoDisneyMom]

We really enjoyed the Postal Museum (near Union Station) and FDR's memorial (off the beaten path but SO worth it). Mount Vernon is really cool to see, and if you have the time try to visit Williamsburg.

[lorilovestigger]

You guys having given me AWESOME advice!! Thanks!!

We plan on taking Amtrak down so no need to worry about a car. And if we need one we have friends in DC that can drive us around. But right now it looks like we'll be on the Metro with all the other thousands of people. Our friend told us to get the one day pass for the Metro which I saw that I can order online. Note to self:do that soon.

We'll arrive mid afternoon Thursday so I haven't figured plans out for that day yet, but as of right now we plan on the Zoo on Friday, Air and Space Saturday and Nat. History Saturday, Sunday morning Spy museum and rest of the time I'm not sure about yet. I know we want to do monuments after the museums close.

That pizza place across from the Spy museum sounds really good. Maybe we'll check it out.

Keep the advice coming. We aren't going till October.

[NanaTink]

FYI---Ella's does not open until 4 on Sundays.

If you don't order your all day passes on line, they are available at each metro station. No extra charge.

[lorilovestigger]

Maybe dinner at Ella's Sunday then. Thanks for the heads up. If I order day passes online they don't charge for shipping.